Hi everyone, hope the transition into 2022 has been smooth. As always, I wanted to wish you and your loved ones good health and success as we move forward this year. The weather has generally been nice in my area, but there have been some weeks where the days would teeter between warm and cold. Looking forward to comfortable beach weather!
It has been a busy past few months. I spent a lot of time with family and close friends over dinners and heartfelt conversations. It was the best way of decompressing and just really being in the moment with them as we shared stories. I also updated my site a bit with my current work along with mentorship of my direct reports when they moved to the next chapter in their careers (I’m super proud of them!).
I also finished up with my continuing education early this year for my recertification. The topics were pretty interesting (clinical trials, mental health for the elderly, issues surrounding marijuana regulation), and it has been great to catch up on the latest research, legal guidelines, and best practices for public health and pharmaceutical science.
In terms of this entry, this one will be heavy on the food and cooking content so hope you have your appetites ready!
Creative Endeavors
I was so happy to support and see a project from my former direct reports get funded on Kickstarter! The Experience Corporation is a comedy podcast focusing on the main characters’ (Delmont and Cameo) adventure navigating through their work at The Experience Corporation and unique encounters throughout Three Cloud City. I enjoyed talking to Thomas, Kate, and Samuel throughout the time period when the Kickstarter was active, and I could see how they were so excited to launch an audio drama for Readymade Utopia. They were incredibly passionate when describing what went into the script, music, and design, and it was wonderful that they now have an opportunity to bring the project to life.
If you are interested in learning more about their production company Readymade Utopia, go check out their site here. They are a very talented team, and I’m very excited to dive into their audio series once they launch it.
Learning
As I’ve been piecing together and organizing my website a bit more, I found a nice format for the learning section. I initially experimented with the ESL section on my site, and it ended up being an organized layout which was visually appealing for me.
For the Health Literacy and Cultural Competent Healthcare sections, they will follow a similar format in terms of the page structure. I started on the first health literacy handout and the page’s design which I hope to launch soon after this is posted. I will also create separate pages and downloadable versions for the handouts. This has been a big part of my research and work, and I am very excited to share this information with everyone.
Food and Shows
Season 19 of Top Chef had started in early March, and I dove right in. I had to also catch up on Season 18 (Portland) since I didn’t watch it when it initially premiered. I ended up binging Season 18 over the course of a week just as Season 19 started, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was no unnecessary drama with the chefs being supportive of each other throughout the challenges. Restaurant Wars in Season 18 was one of the highlights. I remembered that one of the main things of Restaurant Wars was balancing cooking for diners while interacting with the judges and guests. Even though Season 18’s was a bit different due to the pandemic, seeing the members of Kokosón work together and interact with the judges made me smile. It was still very positive and welcoming while showcasing their dishes. Kudos to them!
I’m a bit sad that the season finale is this week! This season had been a staple for my Thursday nights while cooking and eating dinner over the past few months. The top three (Evelyn, Buddha, and Sarah) had been very creative and worked really hard to get a place in the finale. Sarah rocked it at Last Chance Kitchen while Buddha and Evelyn were very consistent throughout the challenges. I’ll be happy with whomever wins. (By the time this blog entry is published, the winner would already be announced 😉)
When the first season of Top Chef premiered in 2006, I was finishing up my undergraduate studies and didn’t know whether to have high expectations or just see it as another reality cooking competition. The show did evolve, and I felt more invested in seeing the growth of the chefs throughout the competition. There were times in the past where I felt like the drama overshadowed the cooking, but I am happy to see more focus on the chefs’ skills and talent from the current seasons.
On the cooking side of things, there were a couple of dishes I was able to try through virtual cooking classes.
I did a virtual cooking class with my colleagues back at the end of 2021 with ingredients from Virtual Table and Kassava Co.. The entire event was from Offsyte’s Boba Milk Tea and Popcorn Chicken event. I highly recommend it! The popcorn chicken was absolutely delicious. The seasoning mix was flavorful and had a nice umami to it (There were several components to it but I didn’t get to take it down since I was focused on chopping. I wish I did write it down though! I remember the chef stating that there was a bit of anise in the seasoning when we all tried to guess what the seasoning was composed of).
The portion was pretty big and could be good for several meals or to feed several people. (Everyone around me loves popcorn chicken so it was definitely a nice treat!)
At the start of the new year, we also had an event for Udon making with a choice of either tea or sake tasting. This was hosted by the Story of Ramen. It was a bit more fast paced, so I just ended up taking a picture of the final prepared dish. We did stomp on the dough for the udon noodles and you can see everyone jumping and moving around through Zoom. It was fun! A few of us had the sake while others had tea to taste while we were cooking.
I did like these virtual cooking classes, but I felt like it can be very fast paced. I remembered constantly listening to the chefs’ instructions while catching up to where we were supposed to be. But in the end everything turned out well! The udon was lunch for that day while the popcorn chicken and boba spanned several meals. All in all these were good experiences, and I highly recommend trying them out.
For dinner one night, I made roasted lemon rosemary chicken. I paired it with some sautéed brussels sprouts with potatoes and a nice slice of bread.
When I was a kid, I didn’t really like brussels sprouts, but now I really enjoy them. I love the nutty flavor especially when I also integrate some sweetness with mirin (Japanese rice wine) and Bull-Dog Worcestershire sauce. I had a few Sunrise Medley potatoes left over from a previous dish I made, so I chopped them up and added them together with the brussels sprouts. It was as my friends would say “Chef’s kiss”. haha
I do have a couple more food pictures and videos to share which I’ll include in the next few blog entries.
Reading
I was excited to read Reggie Fils-Aimé’s new book which had just come out in early May. He was the former President of Nintendo of America and had an extensive career in marketing and management for several companies (I didn’t know he was involved with Panda Express or Pizza Hut until this book). The book was a short, interesting read (took me around 4 days of light reading), and I enjoyed seeing his insight from his family background in Haiti to his leadership experiences.
He is a charismatic guy which is why I can see how he was pretty memorable in people’s eyes. There was a lot of general business advice which he provided in the So What? sections within each chapter. I can see their applications and he does highlight challenges such as how to navigate disagreements with an approach with a colleague (e.g. Nintendo of Japan wanted to take one approach with pricing or packaging a game with a system while Reggie felt that the Western markets needed a different approach to attract more sales).
It was a refreshing business read which was a casual break from the studying from my finance and accounting readings. Reggie demonstrated his professional conversational style while balancing his more fun and approachable personality.
Since I’m also finishing up Top Chef I’m going to dive into Gail Simmons’ book Bringing It Home next. Her first book Talking with my Mouth Full was very interesting, but there were times where it didn’t flow such as when she listed off ingredients at the beginning of a chapter. But overall she’s an incredible food expert, and I find her critiques constructive and insightful. You can tell that she genuinely wants the chefs to succeed and show their true potential. I like her as a judge on Top Chef and love hearing her feedback.
Tourist for a Day
One of my friends from the West Coast came to visit, and I took her to the Edge Observation Deck at Hudson Yards. Although I’ve been to Hudson Yards several times, this was my first time heading to the Edge.
I took a picture standing on top of the transparent glass, and I asked her if she also wanted to stand on top of it. She laughed and said, “No thanks!” People were laying down and posing. I was a bit nervous though (and I’m usually fine with heights!). But it was nice to at least experience this.
I enjoyed catching up with her while we walked around. Before we visited the Edge, we walked around the High Line and shared stories of how things were going on our end with loved ones, work, and life. The time flew by quickly and we met up with my other friend for tapas later that afternoon.
As we move towards the summer here in the States, I hope you and your loved ones continue to stay well! Whether you are traveling, enjoying some hobbies, cooking up delicious dishes, or catching up with family and friends, I wish you all the best. I’m going to explore more of WordPress and other people’s blogs over the summer since I’ve seen a lot of great content. Always appreciate the support from those who have subscribed to my site. You all rock!
Kevinnissimo: Adventures and Inspiration 